Shadow Arts Minister Chris Bryant slams potential Lincoln Castle sale

Labour’s Shadow Arts Minister Chris Bryant has expressed his fears that Lincoln Castle could be sold off to private companies on his visit to the city on April 29.

In an interview with The Lincolnite, Bryant and Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Lincoln, Lucy Rigby, accused the Conservative controlled county council of actively seeking to privatise one of Lincolnshire’s most iconic cultural landmarks.

Earlier this month, the county council revealed that heritage sites had been included in an outsourcing contract notice, as part of plans to make £120 million in annual savings.

Bryant, who has been MP for the Rhondda in South Wales since 2001, also insisted that funding for the arts would be protected under a Labour government, in spite of Ed Miliband’s announcement that public spending would fall in areas outside of education, health and international development.

Leader of Lincolnshire County Council, Martin Hill, hit back at Bryant’s criticisms on Twitter, arguing that his claims were “desperate scare stories from a desperate party.”

@ChrisBryant4MP Labour wrong as usual we are not selling Castle or anything in it. Desperate scare stories from a desperate party